Backyard Hockey Preview

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By Ryan Clements

During a recent meeting with Humongous, the developer of the Backyard Sports series, IGN had a few moments to see the upcoming Backyard Hockey for the DS. While most of the meeting was focused on Backyard Football 2008, Hockey seemed to be coming along nicely and should appeal to younger hockey fans across the board.

Backyard Hockey is extremely similar to its sister football game, which we've discussed at length here. That means a very easy, pick-up-and-play experience that focuses on simplifying sports for the young player, while simultaneously giving enough control and customization to appeal to older children. The game plays very quickly and easily, and sports a simplistic control scheme which can take advantage of either stylus control or traditional controls. Pointing with the stylus will guide your youthful athlete in that direction, and depending on how far away you touch the ice in relation to your character adjusts his or her speed accordingly. In order to pass, you simply touch another member of your team and your currently selected character will attempt a pass to them. If successful, control will automatically transfer to the new controller of the puck. Simple enough.

Shooting is just a matter of touching the player, which brings up a small grid on the screen. With this grid, you can select in what direction you want to aim your shot, or, if you simply want to fire one off without aiming, you can double-tap the "shoot" command displayed below the grid, for more immediate action. With these simple gameplay mechanics, younger players can immediately jump into a game without having to learn overly complex controls like those of a typical hockey title.

Along with standard matches, you can also play a handful of mini-games, which looked rather addictive. The mini-game we had the opportunity to see was a simple air hockey simulator, with your goal on the bottom screen and your opponent's goal on the top. You simply touch the screen to move your mallet and hit the puck, and from what we saw it looked surprisingly accurate to the puck movements of real air hockey. Along with that, there will also be a standard, one-on-one shootout mini-game, and possibly a few others. These should be good diversions from the main game.

Backyard Hockey, like its predecessors, features a mix of child-like pro players, "Backyard kids" and characters you can create. By building custom teams, you can play entire seasons with completely original characters, or build a team comprised of a combination of different types. Along the way, you can adjust their statistics with an awarded points system, and you can face off on a variety of rinks, ranging from traditional outdoor locales, to fantastical, humorous settings. Again, while the focus of the game is simplicity, there is a fair amount of statistical detail to be found, and you'll be able to tailor your experience however you like.

Although Backyard Hockey may not garner appreciation from the majority of gamers due to its childish persona, it looks to have some fun features and should entertain a select audience. Besides, what other hockey game replaces fistfights with games of rock-paper-scissors? Not many.

Backyard Hockey is scheduled for release on October 2, so check back for our review.